Crowned bottle rejection pin for bottle pick up apparatus



Jan. 1, 1963 H. w. PREU ETAL 3,071,403

CROWNED BOTTLE REJECTION PIN FOR BOTTLE PICK UP APPARATUS Filed April 25, 1960 FIG 2 He/mu/ WPreu mr/mm J .Hohensfelh 23 arronwsrs United States Patent Office 3,971,403 Patented Jan. 1, 1963 3,071,403 CROWNED BQTTLE REJECTION PW FOR BGTTLE PHZK UP APPARATU Helinut W. Preu and William J. Hohenstein, Albany, N.Y., assignors to The F. & M. Schaefer Brewing Co, Brooklyn, NY.

Filed Apr. 25, 1960, Ser. No. 24,273 3 Claims. (Cl. 294-64) The present invention relates to a crowned bottle rejection pin for use on apparatus which picks up empty bottles for moving them from place to place.

A conventional apparatus for removing empty bottles, such as beer bottles or the like, from cases for transferring them to a conveyer for movement into a washing machine, has a plurality of heads thereon which have an expandable rubber sleeve within them. The heads are connected to a source of compressed air so that when the heads are lowered over the tops of the bottles in a case of empty bottles, the compressed air is fed to the heads and it expands the rubber sleeves around the tops of the bottles. The apparatus is then operated to lift the empty bottles from the case or the like and move them to a conveyer.

It often occurs, however, that caps or crowns will be placed on the tops of the bottles after they are empty, and when the heads on the bottle removing apparatus move down around the tops of the empty bottles, they will pick up the crown as well as the empty bottle and transport it to the conveyer to the washing machine. The crown will remain on the bottle in the washing machine and prevent a brush spindle which cleans the inside of the bottle as well as the rinsing tube from entering the bottle. This malfunction results in the spindles and rinse tubes being bent out of shape, requiring a thirty to fifty minute shutdown of the machine to replace the bent parts.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a pin which can be placed within the heads on the bottle removing apparatus which will prevent the head from picking up an empty bottle which has a crown thereon, yet which will not prevent the head from picking up a bottle without such a crown thereon.

According to the present invention, there is provided within the head of the bottle removing apparatus a tapered pin which extends downwardly from the center of the bottom of the interior of the head.

Other and further objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following specification and claims, taken together with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevation view of an apparatus for removing empty bottles from a bottle case;

FIG. Z is an enlarged sectional view of a head used on the apparatus of FIG. 1 for engaging the top of a bottle, and embodying the present invention;

FiG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing an empty bottle being engaged by the head of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing a crowned bottle being engaged by the pin in the head of FIG. 2.

As seen in FIG. 1, the apparatus on which the crowned bottle rejection pin is used comprises a series of heads ltl, each of which is mounted on a frame 11 so as to be able to move vertically relative to the frame. The frame itself is movable vertically relative to the ground G from a position over a case C of bottles B to a position over a conveyer means (not shown). Each of the heads it) has attached thereto a flexible hose 12 which leads to a common header 13, which header is connected to a source of compressed air or other gas. The lengths of flexible hose 12 are long enough to permit the necessary movement of the frame 11.

In operation, the case C full of empty bottles B is placed under the apparatus, and the frame 11 is lowered until the heads 10 fit over the tops of the necks of the bottles B. At this point the compressed air is directed to the heads 10 from the header 13 through the flexible hoses 12 and by means which will be described hereinafter causes the heads to engage the tops of the bottles B. Thereupon the frame 11 is lifted, lifting the bottles B out of the case C by the necks thereof, and the frame is moved until the bottles are over a conveying means. The frame is then lowered, the compressed air shut off, and the frame raised, thus leaving the bottles on the conveyer.

It often happens that the user of a bottle will place a crown or cap back on the top of the bottle after pouring the contents out. When this occurs, the head 10 which goes down over the bottle with the cap still on it will pick up the bottle and the cap. The head will also release the crown when it releases the bottle. When the apparatus is removing empty bottles from the cases and feeding them onto a conveyor to be delivered into a soaking and washing machine, the crown is fed into the soaking and washing machine right along with the empty bottle.

in order to prevent the apparatus from picking up a bottle with a crown still on it, the heads 10 are provided with a crowned bottle rejection pin according to the present invention. The heads 10 each comprise a cup member 14 having a cylindrical recess 14a therein, an axial bore 15 through the closed end of the cup member, and a threaded liner 16 for the bore 15. A further recess 17 is provided at the bottom of the cylindrical recess 14a of the cup member 14 and a liner 18 of flexible material is provided on the inside of the cup member. The outer portion of the rim of the cup member 14 isv threaded as at 19, and the outer portion of the extreme end of the rim is stepped as at 26. An internally threaded retaining ring 21 is threaded onto the threaded portion 19 of the rim of the cup member 14, and the interior of the ring is stepped at 22 so as to define a narrow space 23 over the end of the rim and back along the side of the cup member 14. The end of the sleeve 18 is bent over the rim of the cup member 14 and held in place between the ring 21 and the cup member 14.

The crowned bottle rejection pin according to the present invention comprises a main body portion 24 having a hollow threaded projection 25 thereon projecting into the sleeve 16 and threaded into this sleeve. The hollow central bore 25:: therethrough the projection 25 joins a transverse bore 24a through the body 24, which transverse bore opens into the recess 17. A flange 26 is positioned on the body 24 which holds the bottom of the sleeve 18 against the bottom of the cup member 14. A tapered extension 27 projects into the cup. Preferably it projects to a point adjacent to the outer end of the cup. A transverse bore 27a is provided in the tapered extension 27 in order to permit insertion of a wrench therethrough to tighten the pin in position.

When the head 10 is moved down around the top of a bottle B which has no crown on it, as shown in FIG. 3, the sleeve 18 fits around the top of the neck of the bottle. When compressed gas is fed to the head 10, it passes through liner 16, through the bore 251: and the transverse bore 24a and into the recess 17. It then causes the sleeve 18 to distend inwardly and to grasp the top of the neck of the bottle tightly so that the bottle can be lifted when the frame 11 is lifted. The tapered extension 27 extends into the open top of the bottle.

However, when the head 10 is moved down around the top of a bottle B which has a crown on it, as shown in FIG. 4, the tapered projection 27 strikes the crown, thus preventing the head 10 from moving down any farther. The mounting of the head it) on the frame 11 which permits the head to move vertically relative to the frame will thus allow the head to stop moving while the frame continues to move tolower the other heads on the frame still further so that they fit around the tops of the necks of bottles which haveno crowns on them. Thereby the top of the neck of the bottle with a crown on it is prevented from entering a head 1%, and the bottle will thus not be picked up.

In actual practice, the crowns are removed from the empty bottles having them thereon, and the bottles may then be placed on the conveyer manually.

It is though that the invention and its advantages will be understood from the foregoing description and it is apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described and illustrated in the drawing being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

We claim:

1. A bottle pick up cup member having a recess therein, and a crowned bottle rejection pin fixedly mounted on the inner end of said cup member at the bottom of said recess and extending a substantial distance toward the mouth of the recess in said cup member.

2. A bottle pick up cup member having a substantially cylindrical recess therein with a rim around the edge of said recess, a sleeve of flexible material on the inside 0 said cup member and liningfsaid recess, said sleeve being attached to said cup member around said rim of the cup member, means attached to said cup member for directing compressed gas between said cup member and said sleeve for distending said sleeve into the cylindrical recess, and a crowned bottle rejection pin fixedly mounted in the bottom of said cylindrical recess extending through said sleeve into said cup member and projecting into said recess toward the mouth of said recess.

3. A bottle pick up cup member as claimed in claim 2 in which said crowned bottle rejection pin is tapered toward the mouth of said recess.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,308,209 Schmutzer et al Jan. 12, 1943 2,523,157 Somrna Sept. 19, 1950 2,781,126 Wood Feb. 12, 1957 2,825,599 Dent Mar. 4, 1953 2,899,232 Walter Aug. 11, 1959 3,015,514 Mezger Jan. 2, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 86,741 Norway Ian. 2, 1956 

2. A BOTTLE PICK UP CUP MEMBER HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL RECESS THEREIN WITH A RIM AROUND THE EDGE OF SAID RECESS, A SLEEVE OF FLEXIBLE MATERIAL ON THE INSIDE OF SAID CUP MEMBER AND LINING SAID RECESS, SAID SLEEVE BEING ATTACHED TO SAID CUP MEMBER AROUND SAID RIM OF THE CUP MEMBER, MEANS ATTACHED TO SAID CUP MEMBER FOR DIRECTING COMPRESSED GAS BETWEEN SAID CUP MEMBER AND SAID SLEEVE 